Digital marketing industry case study library

You can do this online through our online submission form or by email. If you'd like to submit examples of your work then email them into CaseStudies@DigitalTrainingAcademy.com and after an initial review we'll be in touch if we feel they can be used to support learning goals.

There is also an online submission tool, here: http://www.digitaltrainingacademy.com/submit. By sending us a case study you agree we can use it in training, conference speeches, book chapters and reports and other media. You need to be confident you have the necessary rights and permissions from partners or clients to be able to do this. Case studies cannot be restricted to one particular course so we can only accept material which can be used in any aspect of our training. However, if youd like us to withdraw a case study at any point, then we can do this within two weeks.

To stand out from the crowd during Chinese New Year, luxury online retailer Glamour Sales enlisted Fred&Farid to create a social media stunt to get tongues (and tails) wagging. By pretending to swap their community manager for a dog, the firm generated 100,000 new customers on a tiny budget.

Watch the video case study below:

Continue reading "Social media case study: Retailer replaces community manager with pug (and boosts visits by 150,000)" »

A recent study revealed 2.7 million Korean youths were Coke “brand neglectors”. Coca-Cola Korea teamed up with The Slate to create a mobile campaign that would convert teens by reinforcing Coke’s brand image as an energizing refreshment. Coke PLAY is a real and virtual playground for young people aged 12 to 29 to connect using mobile devices that incorporate voice recognition and location and motion, detecting technologies for games and activities. Because 80 percent of Korean teens exceed their wireless data capacity each month, Coke PLAY awards additional data as prizes. This case study shows how the drinks giant created mobile loyalty through gaming.

Continue reading "Mobile loyalty through gaming: Coca-Cola game rewards players with more mobile data" »

Colgate wanted to increase toothpaste penetration in rural India by educating consumers about oral hygiene and the benefits of using toothpaste regularly vs. traditional, natural products that were only being used sporadically. The brand chose to reach out to these consumers at the Maha Kumbh Mela, a large spiritual gathering for Hindi pilgrims, using mobile and location-based technologies. This case study looks at how the brand managed successful mobile marketing on a budget.

Continue reading "Mobile marketing on a budget: How Colgate reached 700,000 people with just $8,000 mobile spend" »

Targeting feature phone users in South Africa, Unilever's laundry detergent brand OMO enforced its ‘Dirt is Good’ message to engage mums, while driving loyalty in a category where price is the main factor of purchase. To reach busy mums, OMO increased brand engagement by going beyond a simple text-and-win mobile campaign to offer rewards for repeat purchases. Using SMS campaigns to drive mobile loyalty, the opt-in consumers received special messages, offers, surveys, and other news via SMS, building an ongoing communication with the brand. Monthly reminders helped drive repeat purchases by 60 percent, and active opt-in rates of 85 percent demonstrated the value consumers gained from the new OMO loyalty program.

Continue reading "OMO uses SMS campaign to drive mobile loyalty in South Africa" »

Zyrtec AllergyCast conducted mobile marketing using apps to learn what people are allergic to and then teach them about the pollen that triggers their symptoms. The app triangulates pollen and weather data from across the U.S. with how specific users are feeling to determine what is causing their allergies.This case study looks at how it became the leading branded allergy app in the US and a top 25 weather app.

Continue reading "Zyrtec mobile marketing using apps to boost sales of allergy medication" »

Online ads for Mercedes were seen more often by fraudster robots than humans, according to a new report. The Financial Times reports that the Mercedes-Benz ads were accidentally placed on to fraudulent websites by Rocket Fuel, a Nasdaq-listed ad technology company that went public with a market capitalisation of nearly $1bn last year. According to Telemetry, a UK company which specialises in detecting ad fraud, in a sample of 365,000 ad impressions brokered by Rocket Fuel over three weeks, 57 per cent were “viewed” by automated computer programs rather than real people. The allegation will raise concerns about fraud in the fast-growing online advertising market, which expanded 15% last year to $120bn.

Continue reading "'More robots than humans' saw Mercedes-Benz ad" »

The Webby Awards, often dubbed the Oscarsof the Internet, has announced its latest batch of award winners, with Vine, Airbnb, Kickstarter and Vimeo among this year’s winners for their services to digital media. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel won the Viral Video award for his “Twerk Fail” clip, which, as he proudly mentioned on his show, was broadcast on dozens of news networks before the late night host revealed that it was a fake (see below).

Continue reading "Webby Awards 2014: Winners revealed as hoax fire viral scoops awards" »

To coincide with the European elections, Wychwood Brewery, brewers of bottled ale brand Hobgoblin has declared a social media election, challenging fans to choose and nominate their favourite tipple in an online poll. The campaign, Wych Brew Are You? encourages fans to champion their selected beer from a choice of three leading candidates: Hobgoblin, Imperial Red, and Black Wych.

Continue reading "Hobgoblin brand targets millennial voters with social media election" »

Hotel chain Marriott Rewards has launched a PlusPoints program that rewards loyalty program members 250 points for each Facebook 'like' or Twitter 'follow'. Under the scheme, sharers also get 25 points for each Facebook share or retweet about Marriott — up to a maximum of 2,000 points every 30 days.

Continue reading "Marriott offers loyalty points for social shares" »

McDonald's latest mascot ‘Happy’, aimed at promoting healthy eating for children, has caused a stir on social media for all the wrong reasons- with many judging the character as ‘terrifying’. The mascot has launched in the US, modelled off the Happy Meal box, with the aim of encouraging kids to eat more fruits, vegetables and low-sugar beverage options like milk and water- foods not commonly associated with the fast food chain. The fast food giant says it “brings fun and excitement to kids’ meals while serving as an ambassador for balanced and wholesome eating.” However, judging by the reaction on social media, it's inspiring more fear than excitement since making its US debut.

Continue reading "Twitter fail: New McDonald’s mascot terrifies Twitter" »

At the beginning of 2014, an Ikea Facebook campaign drove an 11 per cent increase in foot traffic for the retailer, according to research carried out by Vizeum and iProspect in partnership with Facebook and EE.

Continue reading "Facebook case study: Ikea Facebook campaign boosts store visits by 11%" »

Back in February 2014, Budweiser’s “Puppy Love” became the runaway winner of Super Bowl 2014. The cute commercial, which tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a horse and a puppy, was not only the most shared video online, but also the ad which attracted the most TV coverage. This case study from Unruly Media looks at how the commercial became an internet sensation- racking up over 50m YouTube views by within 3 months.

Continue reading "Video case study: How Budweiser’s ‘Puppy Love’ ad won the Super Bowl ad battle" »

Unilever has expanded its Project Sunlight sustainability initiaitive with a new summer campaign, with a new short film, “The Way Kids See It”. The campaign aims to inspire families to create a brighter future by living more sustainably as part of Unilever’s long-term initiative to make sustainable living commonplace.

Continue reading "Unilever expands Project Sunlight campaign with short film " »

Guest workers make up a significant part of Singapore's total workforce, but often get little recognition for their labour. Coca-Cola Singapore and the Singapore Kindness Movement embarked on a project to bring "Happiness from the Skies", to show that a little kindness goes a long way to bring Singaporeans and guest workers closer.

Continue reading "Coke drones deliver ‘happiness from the skies’ in Singapore" »

During the lunar new year period, Chinese people send good wishes to friends and family. This case study looks at how PepsiCo, as part of a huge annual holiday campaign called "Bring Happiness Home," gave the tradition a twist.

Continue reading "WeChat Case Study: Pepsi ‘brings happiness home’ for Chinese New Year" »

Burger King is resurrecting its 10 year old viral marketing phenomenon ‘Subservient Chicken’- a 24 hour webcam that sees a man in a chicken suit perform any request submitted online. The video has attracted nearly 7 million views on YouTube just 7 days since going online.

Watch the promo video here:

Continue reading "Subservient Chicken squawks again: Burger King revamps viral pioneer" »

Forget dancing babies, star-studded ensembles and big budget action- this 45 minute video of a Leica Camera being polished has created quite a stir on the internet for being the most tedious ad ever created.

The Most Boring Ad Ever Made? from Leica Camera on Vimeo.

Continue reading "Most boring ad ever made’ gets exciting viewing figures" »

After the sea wall on the Dawlish line is badly breached, First Great Western partners with ORM to create a travel advice hub for users of the washed away railway line. This case study looks at how customers and the public were kept in the loop on progress restoring the vital and historic rail line- boosting customer support and web traffic in the process.

Continue reading "Case study: Digital hub helps First Great Western to keep Dawlish train line on track" »

BMW used a page takeover format to promote its latest 2 Series Coupé following a competition to search for an ‘ultimate driver’ for the car maker. The firm worked with InSkin Media using a PageSkin ad format running across several high profile websites, featuring video integration and strong, viewable brand messaging. From the 40 finalists who took part in the Ultimate Driver track day, one man stood out. Duncan Smart, in the new BMW 2 Series Coupe, proved himself worthy of becoming BMW’s Ultimate Driver. The Pageskin format wraps around entire web pages in a takeover style, only served on screens that are large enough to display them in full. BMW could maximise campaign reach across multiple premium publishers through a single, fully optimized creative that remains in the user's eyeline for maximum brand recall.

View a demo of the Page Skin ad here

Unilever's Indonesian ice cream brand Paddle Pop created a new kids entertainment franchise based around its mascot. This case study looks at how the cross media marketing campaign boosted sales up to 43% in some territories.

MAX/Paddle Pop 2012 from sangsara on Vimeo.

Continue reading "Content marketing case study: Paddle Pop digital webisodes boost ice cream sales by 43%" »

In April 2014. a hashtag campaign started by the New York City Police Department backfired after being inundated with photos of police brutality submitted via Twitter. This case study looks at why the campaign failed, and what brands can do to avoid similar Twitter catastrophes.

Continue reading "New York cops' Twitter campaign backfires with ‘police brutality’ pics" »

In April 2014, Ubisoft promoted its digital espionage game Watch Dogs with a site that scrapes publicly available information from Facebook to show users how much of their data is in the public domain… and how it could be exploited.

Watch this trailer showing how the tool works below:

Continue reading "Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs marketing stunt reveals what Facebook knows about you" »

In April 2014, Taco Bell Premiered its newest Doritos Loco Taco on with a short movie on Snapchat, marking a first for the self-destructing chat app.

Continue reading "Taco Bell uses Snapchat for Doritos Locos launch" »

Thai Life used a longform YouTube video to tell a heart-warming tale of an unsung hero who never gets rewarded for his acts of kindness. Or so it seems. This case study looks at how the Bangkok-based insurance firm used the 'Unsung Hero' ad to get 6 million views after being posted on YouTube for just a week.

Continue reading "Heart-warming Thai insurance ad gets 6 million views in a week" »

In April 2014, US Airways had to apologise after a pornographic photo was sent from its official Twitter account in response to a customer complaint. This case study looks at the fallout from the offending tweet and looks at the dangers of hastily (and unchecked) public social media responses.

Continue reading "Social media fail: US Airways sorry for Twitter porn blunder" »